Un-Go - Reviews

It's officially 2021, and what better way to start the year than watching an anime from 2011, which is none other than Un-Go, an 11 episode show about a detective with such a bad reputation that every case he solves is all for naught since the truth is always covered up somehow.

But you’re probably wondering...is the show any good? That’s what we’re going to find out here.

STORY

First, we begin with the story. What I mentioned before was the loose idea of what the show is about. In more detail, the show revolves around a guy by the name of Shinjurou Yuuki, who is a detective, but with a deplorable reputation, for reasons unknown. Gaining the alias of ‘Defeated Detective,’ he continues to solve different crimes with the help of his assistant, Igna, a non-human creature that can force the truth out of anyone by asking the right question.

With an assistant like this, one would be suspicious of why Shinjurou is even known as the ‘Defeated Detective’ but since that never gets addressed, we are just going to omit that.

The show, unfortunately, does not perform well in this regard. Every case is solved in the exact same. Shinjurou comes with a vague idea about how things went down, Igna asks the question to the right person and boom case solved. Rinse and repeat.

That’s how it goes down every single time.

It gets old pretty fast. The cases usually span one or two episodes, except for the last case at the end, which…unfortunately I would say was the worst of them all. I won’t go into spoilers, but the overall conclusion was quite disappointing, which you can probably see in other reviews or in the discussion.

ANIMATION

If I can give this show a pro-point, it would be in the animation department. The show is done by none other than Studio Bones, who are well-known for shows like Noragami and My Hero Academia. They’re a studio that usually has high standards in quality in their works, and Un-Go is no exception. The animation and movement is fluid and the character designs while I could spot similarities with another show (Durarara) they are distinctive enough that you are able to tell them apart.

Overall, visuals are eye-catching and attractive during the anime, so I didn’t see many problems in this aspect.

SOUND

Along with the animation, soundtrack is one of the saving graces of this anime. Both the OP and ED were great songs and the compositions that were played during each scene worked to enhance the scenes in which they were used. One I can recall is the guitar composition that was used in particular dramatic moments or when Shinjurou had an epiphany.

CHARACTERS

Character-wise, the show is lacking. You don’t really get to meet any of the main or secondary characters. They’re all pretty superficial and seem more like plot devices than characters. The minors usually have a small backstory that led them to commit their crime, which is at least something in the character department.

However, this doesn’t really happen for the main and secondary characters. I didn’t feel that they had any qualities that made me root for them or even care about what happened to them.


OVERALL THOUGHTS

I, unfortunately, don’t believe this was a good anime. It had high production values, but the overall story and characters felt quite uninspiring and I didn’t see any point in the show. While I may not like the show, I still encourage anyone curious to try the show for yourself, as reviews still have the opinion of the writer and you may think differently than me.

 

Detective Yuki Shinjuro isn't the most appealing protagonist, but I have to admit that he definitely left me intrigued. He’s the type of guy that manages to keep his cool in the tightest of situations whilst keeping just about anyone far away as possible. I, personally, tried to find something to like about him but I struggled a little. That’s not to say that I hated him, but so much of the time he was so dismissive of certain things which I felt he should have fought harder for. Basically, I couldn’t figure out how much he was doing for the greater good or for his own gain. Then again, you might brisk that over when you’re dealing with the amount of corruption that is evident throughout - which is very much a topic of great discussion in this anime.

With him is Inga. Inga is the key to him unravelling these mysteries. With her power to see your most secret desires, individuals upon individuals will be forced to open up their hearts to tell the truth. Although the two obviously share a bond, much like everything else in Un-go, there’s not much else that we are given an insight to. And this, I feel, is my biggest gripe. There is next to nothing in terms of character development. With start to finish everything just seems... unfinished.  If we even take into account the many mysteries I still can’t really say that any of them kept me on my toes or gave me a ‘AHA!’ moment. And I think the reason why I feel so disappointed is that I haven’t seen a lot of mystery-based shows apart from go-sick -and seeing a show like go-sick, which at least had some great mysteries - resulted in me being more underwhelmed by this.

It’s not all negative, I promise guys. Clearly there was something that kept me watching episode after episode so I’m not going to say that it was plain bad. Characters like Iga and Kaisho Rinroku kept me coming back for more. Now Kaisho is one to look out for. He’s just as bloody annoying as he is an asshole. Every time Shinjuro solves a mystery this idiot is there to cover it up. I can’t explain how frustrating and tedious this gets after a couple of episodes but he’s determined. Throughout the series you’ll be drawn to him, because although you don’t know the full truth you just know there’s something wrong with this guy.

His daughter gets a brief mention because I really am not sure what her whole purpose in this anime was. Apart from never wanting to come to terms with her father’s shitty ways, hiding valuable information and being annoying - I really failed to see the whole point of her character. All in all I wouldn’t recommend mystery fans to completely take this anime off your radar but just don’t expect to be blown away by it.

I'll end it with something positive. The ending theme song is pretty awesome :)

Storywise in this anime there is not much of a big goal or anything there working towards just Mr. defeated detective working out cases, but even though this is all thats happening I personally really like all of them and they are all captivating enough to keep me watching. Most of theese sotries are based on some kind of famous detective novels i think or thats the impression i get from looking at the previews so not many marks for originality there but none the less the books and sotrys is based on are really good with a intresting backdrop of a after war civilisation. but the little sotries are somthing to love about the series and it's got a nice atmosphere to the whole show and some nice cases with some very nice sound sounding deductions.

Animation, It look pretty quite pretty and i like it very much but the fluidity of the animation ca somtimes be very questionable in some places so it's hard to tell esecially at one seen on episode 11 where it is pretty darn epic.

Songs well whats there not to love about the ending song. BEST ending song of all time ever i adore that song it's perfect and flows in everyway with the style of the show but unfortuantly for the rest i can't seem to remebr any of it. i do remeber liking it a bit but hmm very forgetful. it's a shame from havign such an amazing ending song. The start song is pretty average but still likeable.

Characters i'm not great thinking about character development but i think you egt a good idea of how peopel are like and how they behave but unfortunatly the past of our main protagonist is still shrouded in mystery, i'm hoping for a season 2 mabye? where we get more cases and more is revealed! but probably won't happen...

Overall I think defintly somthing you should stongly consider watching, it is episodic a bit but a great series nonethless my favourite show that was aired in theese few weeks and a wish there were more episodes :O!

Right, it's confession time for me. If you have been reading my reviews than you may have noticed that I tend to rip the anime a new one. There is a reason for this though and it has to do with the fact that I can't turn my brain off when watching anime. I can't ignore the stupid shown in the anime and this is a problem as most anime are very stupid indeed.

In this case I'm not talking about a 90 pound girl catching a multi-ton cruise missile and throwing it back. Yes, it is stupid but it is a stupid that I'll allow. It's anime. Things like this are normal here and I'm pretty much fine with it. It annoys me to be sure but I will not rant about it.

So, having explained this lets rip into this anime shall we? Just a heads up: There will most probably be spoilers. The more I hate an anime the more spoilers there will be.

ART: Overall very good quality. Characters are easily identifiable and all the action is easy to follow. If CGI was used then I didn't notice it, as it should be.

SOUND: Decent enough I suppose. I took some more notice than usual because one case revolve around a band and one of their songs. Overall I kind of liked the music and the voice acting.

CHARACTERS: Main character is Yuuki. He is called the Defeated Detective because of his track record with cases but in reality he is the Greatest Detective.

Inga is a God who inhabits the body of a child and works for Yuuki, although he claims it is the other way around. She can ask one person one question and that person must answer it, thus giving up his soul.

Kaishou is the CEO of the biggest company in Japan and effectively running everything behind the scenes. He and Yuuki have some bad history and Yuuki has vowed to expose who he really is to the world.

Bettenou is a God like Inga. Where Inga feeds on the secrets lurking in the hearts of people, Bettenou, is more about the lies. She has the power to turn every word of her master into reality.

STORY: Yuuki is a detective also known as the Defeated Detective. He has gotten the name due to his poor track record in his cases. What most people don't know is that he wasn't wrong about those cases but the truth was hidden to protect certain people. This was done by Kaishou, CEO of J.J. Systems. After the war it was his company which was instrumental in rebuilding Japan. While Yuuki suspects that Kaishou was involved in starting the war he can't prove it. It isn't untill he learns of Bettenou that he thinks he's found his chance to bring down Kaishou. But with her ability to weave stories like they are real can even Yuuki tell the difference between reality and illusion?

RANT: I'll admit that detective stories are hard to do. There are 2 ways to go about it though. The first is that you know who it is and watch the detective figure it out as he goes along by puzzeling the evidence together. The second is going along for a ride with the detective as he finds the pieces of the puzzle with the dramatic reveal at the end. Un-Go follows the second option and it is the hardest one to do.

Remember that Yuuki is the Greatest Detective so his cases should be hard to figure out. For this we need to be able to follow the physical evidence as Yuuki finds it and you can't. There is simply not anough time in the episode to really do this.

For a case you need to create a setting, a number of possible killers with a motive, the victim and an evidence trail leading to the real killer. In this all we are missing something vital however and that is interrogation. People give tiny clues when they are being interrogated and this is lost in animation. For the most part anyway.

What is left is our detective walking around piecing the clues together. With every piece collected one of the extra's yells that this or that person did it. (This is their job as extra's: try to confuse the viewer away from the killer. It gets annoying fast)

At some point Yuuki calls everyone together to make the big reveal and have Inga ask her one question. The reveal is usually made after an impossible leap of logic that you never saw coming and I don't mind this in the slightest. Remember that Yuuki is the Greatest detective so leaps of logic are fine by me.

I'm not competing with him so I do not care if he pulls some big reveal out of his ass at the end. The cases are overall relative simple and in some you kind of know from the start who the guilty party is. Most of the time you don't care though because the anime is about Yuuki and on how he works the case.

Things start to make a nosedive with Bettenou and Inga. Inga was a character that I pretty much hated from the start. The high energy assistant that is in reality a God with the power to make you answer one question she asks of you. In either form she is annoying but I do prefer her 'released' form more. There she is just annoying without the ADD shit going on.

Bettenou is a different matter though. When she gets introsuced the show shifts focus from solving murders to more mystery/supernatural. Her powers allow her to make her masters' words a reality.

Her arc comes out of nowhere and the tonal shift is amazing. Her first arc is also horribly bad. The second arc with her is better but here it is hampered by the fact that you know who her master is from the beginning.

In both arcs you see Yuuki struggeling trying to figure out what is going on and in both cases he fails miserably. The first time you get to see him starting to get out of it and is helped along the way by his people. The second has no excuse though. He knew about Bettenou and her powers and he fell for her completely.

There is a saying that I know of: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

This is actually funny because as a bonus there was an extra episode on my box set. An episode 0, which is about how Yuuki and Inga got together. You saw flashes of this throughout the series but here you get everything. Funny thing is that the advisary is a guy wielding the power of.....wait for it.....here it comes....Bettenou!

Yes! Ladies and gentlemen! Our Greatest Detective! Fooled three times by the same power to weave stories! Oh, how lucky we are to be granted the privalidge to witness his monumental stupidity at work and....wait, what?

Story wise there are 2 major issues that I have with this anime. The first is that Yuuki got fooled 3 times by Bettenou. He should have known what was going on and fought his way out by the third time. The first time he was fooled completely, the second he started to get out and was helped, the third he took it all: hook, line and sinker.

The second is that he actually got a few cases wrong. There is some serious bad blood between Yuuki and Kaishou. The fact that it is only Yuuki who has the vendetta (Kaishou simply does not care about him) is one thing but the problem is that when there is a case involving Kaishou he immediately points a finger at Kaishou as the perpetrator.

You could have had the actual killer stand over the victim, holding a smoking gun while laughing maniacally. The second Kaishou's name would come up as someone with a motive he would ignore everything else and go after Kaishou. I'm sorry but no. Not in a million years will I accept that. This is the Greatest Detective we're talking about.

This would be the same as Sherlock Holmes walking into a robbed bank and yell that Moriarty did it because he has a checking account there. It's stupid and not something I would expect from a Detective, great or not.

Comforting lies or a bitter truth. Which is better?

Enter UN-GO: an 11-episode anime series by Studio BONES which tackles this theme by pouring it in the format of a buddy-detective show, following cynical detective Shinjuurou Yuuki and his quirky assistant Inga as they tackle cases in a Japan that's recovering in the aftermath of a devastating war.  The end result is something that thematically feels less like the typical mystery anime and more like a sci-fi spin on the British crime-drama Foyle's War.

Let's get one thing clear: UN-GO isn't very good when taken as a pure detective story. Most of the cases involve genre staples such as blackmail or crimes of passion. Worse yet is that it seldom feels like the main characters are running an investigation. Whenever a crime occurs, the main duo briefly scans the scene and talks with (read: introduces) the people involved, this is followed  by some brief speculating after which Shinjuurou will deduce the big picture, only to have Inga swoop in with a magical power that literally forces people to spill the beans. And seeing as the majority of the cases last only one episode, it all ends up feeling very rushed. By rights, UN-GO should be a complete disaster, yet it ends up worthwhile by being a show about detectives solving mysteries that isn't really about the mysteries.

 This is where the contrast between sweet lies and bitter truth comes into play.

The story, as previously mentioned, takes place in a Japan that's licking its wounds in the aftermath of a war. The government has restricted people's freedoms and control the flow of information as much as possible.  In-story avatar of these policies is Rinroku Kaishou, the chairman of the company that holds the monopoly on Tokyo's communication infrastructure. A charismatic, intelligent man who uses the system to his advantage. This in stark contrast to our hero Shinjuurou, a self-proclaimed seeker of truth whose insistence on uncovering shady practices earns him the hatred of officials and the people alike.

The contrast between these two is the thematic driving point of UN-GO as well as one of its greatest strengths. What seems like a derivative tale of the well-respected villain vs a misunderstood hero becomes a n of how people will shape events in ways that best suits them. Terrorism, blind patriotism and greed are among the themes that come by throughout the episodes, and the show consistently surprises in how it ties them into its truth-vs-lies dichotomy. Interesting to note is that the show doesn't really pick a side between Shinjuurou and Rinroku. While the former's desire to uncover the truth is presented as an admirable quality, his complete lack of tact and almost suffocating cynicism are presented not as harmless quirks but as defense mechanisms born out of desperation. Rinroku's shady practices are in no way glossed over, but the narrative also makes it clear that he views himself as a lesser evil rather than a greater good.

It's a shame then, that other characters don't fare as well. Recurring and one-shot characters alike usually fall into easily recognizable archetypes who play their roles as puppets of the plot competently. Standard detective fiction fare. A bigger shame is that the dynamic between Shinjuurou and Inga isn't fleshed out. It would've been interesting to see the more sinister undertones in their relationship elaborated upon, particularly the part where Inga feeds on truths as a substitute for souls. The dynamic as it is feels interesting if underdeveloped. Though it doesn't hurt the story proper in any significant manner.

The visuals are what you'd expect of a competently produced TV-anime. The animation is nothing remarkable across the board, though key scenes are brilliantly animated. The music is nothing memorable in and of itself but always does an excellent job enhancing the mood of scenes. On the voice-acting side of things some praise is in order for Aki Toyosaki, who showcases surprising range in her role as the quirky yet mysterious Inga. Director  Seiji Mizishima (Fullmetal Alchemist '03, Dai-Guard) once again proves himself to be highly capable, turning several aspects – many of which vary in quality and aren't always compatible - into a compelling whole. And it would be no exaggeration to say that UN-GO might not have turned out so well had someone else been at the helm.

Ultimately, UN-GO is the best kind of bait-and-switch, providing the tale of a man seeking truth in a sea of deceit, under the guise of a detective story. Anyone intrigued by the premise and willing to be surprised would do well to give it a look.